SUNDAY'S GAMES
Western Illinois 0, Morehead State 0
@Tennesee Tech 7, Southern Indiana 0
Eastern Illinois 2, @Southeast Missouri 0
@UT Matin 1, Little Rock 1
@SIUE 1, Lindenwood 0
WESTERN ILLNOIS 0, MOREHEAD STATE 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State soccer team dominated every phase of the match vs. Western Illinois on Sunday afternoon, but could not find the back of the net in a scoreless draw with the Leathernecks. The Eagles held possession for 75% of the match.
MSU bombarded the WIU goalkeeper with shots all day long, putting the ball in dangerous areas time and time again, but were unable to get a goal. In shots, Morehead State led 24-2 (14-0 in the first half) with five shots on goal to Western Illinois' one. Erin Gibbs was able to save the lone on-target shot she faced to shutout WIU. The shutout marked Gibbs' fourth of the season and third in a row, moving her career total to nine (3rd in program history).
Hedda Ornberg and Kate Larbes co-led the team in shots with five each. Michelle Hochstadt (four), Erin Fite (three), Nicole Fiantaco (two), and Anna Lohrer (two) fired more than one shot as well.
MSU also had four corners to WIU's none, including one in the 88th minute, but the Leathernecks were able to clear after a skirmish in the box and the match ended 0-0.
TENNESSEE TECH 7, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A piece of program history was the story Sunday afternoon, as the Tennessee Tech soccer team tied a ribbon on the first week of league play with a 7-0 victory over Southern Indiana in the OVC home opener.
Tech's seven-goal output ties a school record for scores in a match, a feat accomplished four previous times in program history and twice in OVC play. The Golden Eagles last put seven on board on Sept. 4, 2009 in a win over Alabama State, and the last time the purple and gold put up a seven-spot at home was Sept. 11, 2002 in a win over UNC Asheville at Tech Soccer Field. The Golden Eagles also put up seven goals in OVC victories over Morehead State on Oct. 6, 2001 and at UT Martin on Oct. 1, 2000.
TTU's triumph pushes the club's unbeaten streak to four consecutive in which the Golden Eagles (3-4-3, 2-0-0 OVC) have outscored their 15-3 in the quartet of contests. Tech also runs its OVC regular-season unbeaten streak to 16 straight dating back to the beginning of October 2021. This year's version of the purple and gold have outscored its conference opponents 10-0 in the pair of affairs.
Individually, Yao Giada Zhou picked up her own piece of program history behind a seven-point afternoon in which the senior midfielder scored two goals and added three assists to tie the school's all-time record for most points in a single match. Chloe Smith secured seven points in last year's OVC Tournament semifinal win over Lindenwood and TTU Hall of Famer Jill Burns put seven points on the stat sheet against Murray State on Oct. 24, 2003.
Giada Zhou's trio of helpers tied the second-most assists in a single match in program history. The San Michele al Tagliamento, Italy native was the last Golden Eagle to pick up three assists in a tilt in last year's 4-1 victory over Furman on Aug. 25.
Giada Zhou opened the scoring with a penalty-kick goal in the 13th minute, the first of three Golden Eagle scores in a 14-minute span. Selma Askildsen followed up with her first career goal in the 16th minute, before Bailey Taylor split the pipes in the 27th minute. Ashley Wood would go on to cap off Tech's first-half attack with her first-career net-finder in the 44th minute.
The Golden Eagles put together another surge early in the second half behind three more goals in a seven-minute period a third of the way into the stanza. Neve Renwick tied Bailey Taylor for the team and OVC lead with her fourth goal of the season in the 60th minute, before Katie Toney got in on the action with a 66th-minute score. Giada Zhou capped off the Golden Eagle wave with her second goal in the 67th minute.
Toney ended her afternoon with four points behind two assists, while Taylor took her fourth three-point performance in the last six matches behind an assist on Giada Zhou's second goal. Gabby Garcia and Katelyn Farmer tallied their first helpers of the season and Renwick notched her second of the year after aiding on Giada Zhou's second goal as well.
Maggie Conrad and Kendall Curran teamed up for Tech's second consecutive clean sheet behind a combined six stops against the Screaming Eagles (1-6-4, 0-1-1 OVC). Conrad notched four saves in nearly 67 minutes of action, while Curran picked up a pair of stops in just over 23 minutes between the pipes.
USI's starting keeper Anna Markland allowed four goals and made three halts in the first half, while Zoe Lintner surrendered three goals and tabbed one denial in the second.
Renwick added to her OVC-leading shot total with five more attempts to push the Sheffield, England product to 30 tries this year. The 5-foot-5 freshman has taken 17 bids in her last three matches. Adriana Berruti, Peyton Murphy and Emma Thurston all paced the Screaming Eagles with two shots apiece.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 2, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Eastern Illinois women's soccer team picked up its first Ohio Valley Conference win after defeating Southeast Missouri on the road, 2-0. The Panthers moved to 1-1 in the conference and 2-5-2 in the season. SEMO sits at a 4-3-2 record and 0-1-1 in the OVC.
EIU and SEMO battled through a balanced and scoreless first half. The Panthers ended the half with one shot on goal while the Redhawks had a total of six shots with five being on target.
In the second half, the Panthers did not only show effectiveness on defense to keep SEMO away from the goal, but were also precise on offense. In the 64th minute, Cami Lummus put her name on the scoreboard after converting a penalty kick suffered by Ella Onstott, EIU leads 1-0. Twelve minutes later, Cam Korhorn found Alex Tetteh. The freshman forward beat the defender before firing a great shot from outside the eighteen yard box and giving the Panthers the 2-0 lead.
Freshman goalkeeper Ella Kratochvil totaled five saves in net to secure the first shutout of her collegiate career and the second for EIU in the season.
The match marks the first road win for the Panthers in the 2023 season.
UT MARTIN 1, LITTLE ROCK 1
MARTIN, TENN. - In a physical back-and-forth battle, the University of Tennessee at Martin soccer team finished with a 1-1 draw against the Little Rock Trojans in the Ohio Valley Conference home opener.
After being away from Skyhawk Field for three weeks, UT Martin's offense fired 12 shots on the day with four on goal. Freshman Peyton Cook scored her first collegiate goal while leading the team in shots (four). Izzy Patterson (three), Jordan Bailey (two), Makayla Robinson (one), Maren Cain (one) and Rachel Okoro (one) each contributed to the offensive attack.
Cook blistered two shots on goal followed by Cain and Robinson, who each ripped a shot towards the net.
Sophomore Poppy Bastock held the game-high in saves with five while the Skyhawks saw 90-minute performances from Joelle Stinson, Catey Hunt, Gwen Walters, Shayla Addington, Bastock and Patterson.
The first half saw stellar defense as well as quality offensive opportunities produced from both sides. The Skyhawks held the Trojans (first in the OVC in goals scored) to just four shots in the opening half where UT Martin was able to get seven chances off.
It only took 12 minutes after halftime for the Skyhawks to be rewarded for their pressure as Cook beat Trojan goalkeeper Marie Cimatti to put the orange and blue on the board. Not more than three minutes later the equalizer was delivered by Mykena Turner to knot the match at one.
Both squads couldn't break the tie for the remainder of the contest and came away with a point apiece for the conference standings.
SIUE 2, LINDENWOOD 0
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - SIUE women's soccer picked up its second straight Ohio Valley Conference victory Sunday, blanking Lindenwood 1-0 at Korte Stadium.
Kasey Neidhardt recorded the game-winning goal at the 6:30 mark in the first half. She accepted a pass from Matea Diekema and headed the ball in from 10 yards out.
SIUE improved to 4-4-1 for the season and 2-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Lindenwood dropped to 2-7-1 overall and 0-2 in the OVC.
It was Neidhardt's second goal of the season. SIUE's previous 11 goals scored this season have come from 11 different players.
Taylor Spiller earned her first shutout of the season with two saves. No save was bigger than the one with two minutes left to play when she stopped a point-blank shot from Lindenwood's Mia Corrigan.
The Cougars dominated the flow of the game with a 15-2 shot advantage. Lindenwood recorded just one shot in each half. Kaitlyn Nichols led the Cougars' offense with three shots.